AGENT JOSH ADAMS AND KIM LIGGETT GUEST POST & QUERY CRITIQUE & BLOOD AND SALT GIVEAWAY

Happy Wednesday Everyone! I have a treat for you. Debut author Kim Liggett and her agent Josh Adams have a guest post where they interview each other to help celebrate Kim's debut YA sinister romance BLOOD AND SALT. It sounds really mysterious and a great read for this time of year.

Here's a blurb from Goodreads:

Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn in this one-of-a-kind romantic horror.

“When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in—blood and salt.”

These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this village lost to time.

Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the town’s history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.

As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash must fight not only to save her mother, but herself—and discover the truth about Quivira before it’s too late. Before she’s all in—blood and salt.

Now here's Kim and Josh!

Kim's Questions for Josh:

You're a fancy Columbia business school graduate. What drew you to publishing?

My wife, Tracey, drew me to children’s/YA publishing. I actually started out my career in magazine publishing before going to business school and then consulting on marketing and brand strategy for companies all around the world. Despite how interesting my work was, it was always Tracey’s work as a literary agent that fascinated me the most, and all my experience came together when I was able to help her launch Adams Literary in 2004. It remains the most professionally rewarding thing either one of us has done, and all the better that we get to do it together.

You have an eclectic list-- horror, fantasy, sci-fi, literary. I love that you're such a risk taker. Is there a common thread in the writing you like to represent or is it more of a 'I know it when I see it' kind of thing?

While I do have varied tastes, I look for authors—like you—who aren’t afraid to take risks with their

work. I am always looking for something new and different than what I’ve read before, even if it’s within the same genre. There’s nothing more exciting than discovering an author—and a novel—that has a fresh twist, or that completely turns a reader’s expectations on their head.

Describe your ideal client:

Can I just say you?! : ) My ideal client is someone who is as committed to their work as Tracey and I

are to ours, yet who—like us—doesn’t take themselves too seriously. When deciding to take on a new author, we look first for talent, then for fit. Talent alone isn’t enough; I need to know that I have a clear vision for what the author hopes to achieve with his or her career, and really feel that we can work together well as a team over the course of that career.

Adams Literary is a family run boutique agency. What do you feel are some of the advantages/disadvantages with this business model?

From an author’s perspective, I think there are only advantages to working with a boutique agency such as Adams Literary. We are able to provide our authors with a more personal, tailored and streamlined approach to their needs, and there’s really nothing that we can’t match or surpass compared to a large agency. From a personal perspective, it can be hard to find the “off” switch.

Where do you see the agency in five years?

I wish I had a crystal ball! Seriously, though, I don’t see much changing in terms of our strategy or approach. We are very fortunate to work with some extremely talented authors and artists, and I truly believe that some of their—and our—best work is yet to come.

Is there anything on your wish list that you're dying to find right now?

I am always on the lookout for mind-blowing, life-changing books. I don’t typically like to give specifics, because I worry that it will discourage authors whose type of work I don’t mention, and as you suggested before, it really is an “I’ll know it when I see it” type of thing. Because it’s you asking, I’ll say that I’ve always longed for a really cool samurai book, and I’m still searching….

Josh's Questions for Kim:

I was so incredibly intrigued by your pitch—Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn— and then fell in love at the very first line. Tell me about your inspiration for BLOOD AND SALT.

This was the perfect storm of two influences merging together. I started writing BLOOD AND SALT as a love letter to my daughter. She had her first crushing love and I wanted to show her how strong, interesting and amazing I thought she was. I combined this with my love of the history of the place I grew up, a tiny town in Kansas. I only intended on writing a few chapters, but I just couldn’t stop.

You certainly had an interesting and successful life before deciding to become an author. What made you take this chance?

I really didn’t feel like I had a choice. I was completely obsessed. I learned how to write so I could tell this story. I remember sitting my kids down and telling them that I was going to sell my business and become a writer. I told them we’d be eating a lot of pasta and there was no guarantee of success. They both shrugged and told me to go for it. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.

So, you’re pretty normal. How do you come up with such dark, dramatic subject matter?

I think I’m just secretly creepy. Even when I try to write something sunny, someone always ends up in a body bag. I’m dyslexic, so they let me read anything I wanted when I was a kid—anything to get me to finish a book. I was drawn to Stephen King, VC Andrews and romance novels. A style was born!

Given all the choices out there today, how did you approach your agent search? What were the most important factors in your decision, and what made you say “Yes” to me and Adams Literary?

I felt like I needed a boutique agency. I wanted to find a home where I could grow as an author and work closely with an agent who would help me carve out a career path. Long term planning was a big deal for me. You were really passionate about my writing. I had a weird book that didn’t quite fit into any one genre and I knew I needed a fierce advocate to find the right editor and publishing house.

You’ve seen many friends do it, and now you’ve gone through the process of querying, getting an agent, getting a deal and having your first book published. What has been the best part, and what advice would you give to aspiring authors?

The best part of this whole journey is the writing friends I’ve made along the way. Get involved in the writing community. Join debut groups. Go to conferences. Interact with other writers on social media. It might feel weird at first, but those friends you come up with will be your greatest reward.

Thanks for all your advice, Kim and Josh. You can find Kim at: kimliggett.com

And you can find Josh at: adamsliterary.com

Kim has generously offered a copy of BLOOD AND SALT for a giveaway and Josh is offering a query critique. To enter,  all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through October 17th. If you do not want to be included in the query critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. The book giveaway is for U.S. and the query critique giveaway is international.

Here's what's coming up:

Next Monday I have a guest post by long-time follower and debut author Carol Riggs and a giveaway of her YA science fiction THE BODY INSTITUTE.

Next Wednesday I'll be participating in the Spooktacular Book Giveaway Hop.

The following Monday I have a guest post by Gayle Rosengren and a giveaway of her middle grade historical COLD WAR ON MAPLEWOOD STREET.

Hope to see you on Monday!